This invention relates to an air flow control apparatus and more particularly to an air flow control for a dishwasher.
The use of a fan fixed to a motor shaft to blow heated air into a wash cavity of a dishwasher to dry the articles within the dishwasher is well known. One known arrangement disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,072,129 has a blower attached to the top end of a dishwasher motor drive shaft which causes air to be blown directly into the wash cavity during both wash and dry cycles. A disadvantage to such an arrangement is that blowing air into the wash cavity during the wash cycle causes poor wash performance by removing both heat and moisture from the wash cavity during the wash cycle. Such an arrangement also has the disadvantage of requiring a separate ducting means for the air flow and the water flow.
Another known air flow system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,406 uses a heater enclosure, consisting of a fan and heater coils, driven by the dishwasher motor drive shaft which causes heated air to pass through a ducting means and then into the wash cavity. A disadvantage to this system is that an additional heater and ducting means is required for the wash cycle.